The purpose of MicrobeWorld.org, a web site owned and operated by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), is to foster and support an understanding of, and public interest in, the science of microbiology and the broader life sciences. The site contains scientific and educational content and encourages user submissions, comments, ratings,and the sharing of content. By accessing, viewing or using this site and any of its syndicated content (i.e. audio and video podcasts, RSS feeds and email functions), including becoming a registered user, you agree to comply with and be bound by these Terms and Conditions of Use (Terms of Use"), including the Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of Liability as described below. These Terms of Use/Disclaimer constitute a legally binding agreement between you and ASM regarding your use of and access to MicrobeWorld.org. If you do not agree to these terms, you are not permitted to use MicrobeWorld.org.

ASM, in its sole discretion, may at any time refuse or delete content it deems inappropriate to the purpose of the site, illegal, or harmful to others. ASM does not undertake any obligation to monitor the site for such material. The views, opinions, and accuracy of information posted on this site are the responsibility of the poster. ASM does not control, verify, or endorse any of the information or comments found on the site, including but not limited to information in linked web sites, posted/uploaded materials, submitted comments, events, messages, blogs, connections, message board posts, groups, or elsewhere. ASM is not responsible for any person's misuse or misappropriation of any site content including but not limited to information in links, posted/uploaded materials, submitted comments, events, messages, blogs,connections, message board posts, groups, or elsewhere.

1. License

ASM grants you a personal, non-commercial, non-exclusive, limited, revocable, non-transferable license to access and use the ASM Web Sites conditioned upon your continued acceptance of, and compliance with, these Terms of Use. You may use the ASM Web Sites and the ASM Materials (as defined below) for your noncommercial personal use and for no other purpose. Your use of any ASM Web Site is solely at your own risk and is subject to all applicable local, state, national and international laws and regulations. ASM does not guarantee the confidentiality or security of any communication or other material transmitted to or from the ASM Web Sites over the Internet or other communication network.

2. Registration and Login Information

a. Certain features or materials on ASM Web Sites require registration and/or login. With respect to such features and/or materials, you agree to: (i) provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by the Site's registration form (such information being the "Registration Data"); and (ii) maintain and promptly update the Registration Data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete.

b. You will create a password and account designation upon completing the Site's registration process. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the password and account, and are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your password or account. You agree to: (i) not allow any third party to use it under any circumstances; (ii) immediately notify ASM of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security; and (iii) ensure that you exit from your account at the end of each session. ASM will not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage arising from or in connection with your failure to comply with these requirements or any theft, misappropriation, disclosure, or unauthorized use of your login information.

3. Intellectual Property Rights

All trademarks, service marks, logos, trade dress, trade names, information, data, images, photographs, audio and video material, artwork, text, graphics, multimedia content, compilations, and other material that you see or read on the ASM Web Sites and all related code and material of any kind or nature (collectively the "ASM Materials"), except for Submitted Materials (as defined below), are owned by ASM or are being used by ASM with permission. You may not use ASM Materials except as provided in these Terms of Use. You may download one copy of the ASM Materials on any single computer for your personal, noncommercial use, provided you keep intact any copyright and other proprietary notices on the ASM Materials and do not modify the ASM Materials in any way. Educational and nonprofit entities and individuals may use ASM Materials without written consent from ASM provided they provide proper attribution and the ASM Materials are not used for any commercial use or for financial gain. Further, ASM grants a limited and revocable license to you to link to any content on this site provided the site where the link resides complies with all applicable laws. Without limiting the forgoing, you agree not to use the ASM Materials for any other use or purpose.

4. Copyrights and Trademarks

The ASM Materials include trademarks and service marks owned by or being used by ASM with permission and such ASM Materials are protected by international, federal and state laws and regulations, including but not limited to copyright, trademark, trade secret, trade dress, and other laws and regulations. You agree not to display or use, in any manner, any such trademarks or service marks and such information may not be copied, reproduced, or distributed in any way, in whole or in part, without the prior permission of ASM. ASM does not grant you any copyright or ownership interest in any proprietary information, trademarks, service marks, or copyrighted material and you agree not to remove or obscure any copyright notices appearing on any material.

5. Links

The ASM Web Sites may contain links to pages on other sites, and those sites may offer products, services, or other resources. ASM does not make any representation with respect to the quality, non-infringement, accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or reliability of any materials, information, services, or products offered on such sites. Because ASM has no control over such sites and resources, you acknowledge and agree that ASM has no responsibility for the accuracy of information provided by, or available via, other sites. Links to external sites do not constitute an endorsement by ASM of the sponsors of such sites or the content, products, advertising, or other materials presented on those sites. You further acknowledge and agree that ASM is not responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused, or alleged to be caused, by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such content, goods or services available on these other sites or resources.

6. User conduct and User submissions

a. ASM Web Sites may permit users to submit material for posting on an ASM Web Site, including, without limitation, content, information, ideas, comments, blogs, video, audio, research, curricula, suggestions or other materials ("Submitted Materials"). ASM does not warrant or make any representation whatsoever, and does not make any guarantee regarding, the quality, non-infringement, accuracy, completeness, timeliness, reliability, or any other attribute of Submitted Materials. Submitted Materials are the sole responsibility of the third party posting such Submitted Materials.

b. You are entirely responsible for everything you upload, post, email or otherwise make available on the site; provided, however, that by uploading, posting, emailing or otherwise making available any communications or Submitted Material, and solely in consideration of the possibility of publicity and professional credit, you hereby grant to ASM a non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, perpetual, worldwide, license to cop, prepare derivative works, improve, distribute, publish, retain, and commercialize Submitted Materials or any other submissions by you to an ASM Web Site.

c. With respect to any and all Submitted Materials and any other information or material submitted by you, you hereby warrant and represent that such Submitted Materials: (i) are true, accurate, authorized, and complete; (ii) are not unlawful, obscene, fraudulent, indecent; do not defame, abuse, harass, or threaten others; and are not hateful or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable; (iii) do not contain any software viruses, Trojans, worms, bombs, or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment or that may damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept, or expropriate any system, data, or personal information; (iv) do not advocate or encourage any illegal activity; (v) do not infringe the copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, right of publicity or other intellectual property, proprietary, contractual, personal or other right of any third party; (vi) do not violate the privacy of individuals, including other users of the ASM Web Site and do not impersonate any other person or entity; and (vii) do not violate any applicable local, state, national or international law.

7. Infringement Complaints - Digital Millennium Copyright Act Notice

a. ASM respects others' intellectual property rights and has made every effort to secure appropriate clearances for all proprietary intellectual properties that ASM directly makes available on the Web Site and we ask our users to do the same. MicrobeWorld may, in appropriate circumstances and at its discretion, disable and/or terminate the accounts of users who it suspects to be infringers. If you believe any material on the Web Site, either posted by ASM, our users or any other party, is infringing, please contact ASM at the address below. Pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, ASM has a designated agent to receive copyright infringement claims.

American Society for Microbiologyc/o MicrobeWorld 1752 N Street, NWWashington, DC 20781
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c. If your notification involves infringement of copyright or trademark rights, please include the following information in your notice:

1. Identification of the work(s) claimed to have been infringed and a statement of ownership to such work(s);2. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material;3. Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you, such as an address, telephone number and e-mail address at which you may be contacted;4. A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law;5. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed; and6. Your physical or electronic signature.

8. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT: (i) YOUR USE OF THE SITE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. ANY CONTENT OR INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THE SITE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITH NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND; (ii) TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY APPLICABLE LAW, ASM AND ITS AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, OFFICERS, COUNCILORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, REPRESENTATIVES, AND LICENSORS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING (BUT NOT LIMITED TO) THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT, (iii) YOU ASSUME TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK FOR YOUR USE OF THIS SITE AND ANY SITE-RELATED MATERIALS. IN ADDITION, ASM DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS ON THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS IN OR ON THE SITE WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES THE SITE AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS; (iv) ANY MATERIAL DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SITE IS DONE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL ASM BE LIABLE IN ANY WAY FOR ANY MATERIAL, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN ANY CONTENT, OR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND INCURRED AS A RESULT OF THE USE OF ANY MATERIAL POSTED, EMAILED OR OTHERWISE TRANSMITTED VIA THE SITE; (v) IF YOU FIND ANY MATERIAL ON THE SITE OBJECTIONABLE, DO NOT USE THE SITE.

9. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

A. YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL ASM, ITS AFFILIATES OR SUBSIDIARIES, THEIR SPONSORS, CONTRACTORS, OR VENDORS OR ANY OF THEIR SUCCESSORS, ASSIGNS OR LICENSEES, OR ANY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, COUNCILORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OR REPRESENTATIVES (COLLECTIVELY "ASM RELEASED PARTIES") BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND OR NATURE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE OR OTHER DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING IN ANY WAY TO THE SITE, THE USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE SITE, UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA, THE MATERIALS AVAILABLE ON THE SITE, STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY ON OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SITE OR ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE SITE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THE SITE, EVEN IF ANY OF THESE PARTIES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF ANY DAMAGES.

B. YOUR SOLE REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH ANY ASM WEB SITE AND/OR SITE-RELATED MATERIALS IS TO STOP USING THE SITE. YOU AGREE THAT THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND RELEASE IS MADE WITH THE KNOWING INTENT OF RELEASING ALL KNOWN AND UNKNOWN CURRENT AND FUTURE CLAIMS AND WITH THE INTENT OF WAIVING ALL RIGHTS UNDER DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA LAWS OR OTHER LAWS REQUIRING SIMILAR WAIVERS TO BE KNOWIN.

10. A Special Note about Children, Children's Privacy and Our Compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act

In compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), we are a general audience site and do not intend to collect any Personally Identifiable Information (PII) from children under 13 years of age, unless we believe such collection to be permitted by law. Our Site targets an audience that is over the age of 18 and some content may not be appropriate for all ages. Parental supervision is recommended. If you are the parent or guardian of a child under 13 and believe that he or she has disclosed PII to us, please contact us at
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. Upon request, the parent or guardian of a child under 13 may review and request the deletion of such child's PII, as well as refuse to permit the further collection or use of such PII.

11. Indemnification

Youirrevocably agree to defend, indemnify and hold the ASM Released Parties harmless from and against all claims or demands your use of the ASM Web Sites or any ASM Materials on such sites, a violation by you of any of the Terms of Use, or any other actions arising out of or connected with your use of the ASM Web Sites and/or ASM Materials on such sites, or Submitted Materials you submit, post to or transmit to any ASM Web Site or your violation of any rights of another party, including, but not limited to, any liability or expense, losses, damages (actual and consequential), suits, judgments, litigation costs and attorneys fees.

12. ASM reserves the unrestricted right, in its sole discretion, to restrict, suspend, of terminate your access to the ASM Web Sites and/or to terminate the license granted herein at any time for any reason. You agree that any termination of your access to an ASM Web Site may be effected without prior notice to you.

13. ASM reserves the right to change or modify these Terms of Use at any time in its sole discretion. These Terms of Use shall not be modified except in writing, as posted by ASM. Any change or modification made by ASM will be effective immediately upon posting and your continued use of any ASM Web Sites means that you have agreed to accept any changes or modifications made by ASM. You should therefore periodically visit this page to review the most recent Terms of Use.

14. These Terms of Use and the relationship between you and ASM shall be governed by, construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the District of Columbia and the U.S.A., as it is applied to agreements entered into and to be performed entirely within the District of Columbia and without regard to any conflicts of laws principles.

15. Any controversy or claim you have shall be resolved by a single impartial arbitrator pursuant to proceedings administered by the American Arbitration Association under its rules for resolution of commercial disputes. The arbitration shall be held in Washington, District of Columbia. All submissions to the arbitrator, the proceedings, and the award shall be confidential. The arbitration shall be conducted on an expedited basis with minimal discovery. The arbitrator's award shall be final and binding. The courts of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia shall have exclusive jurisdiction and venue over (i) any action concerning the enforcement of an arbitration award, or (ii) if arbitration is not permitted by law, then any controversy or claim you have arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use. You agree to unconditionally and irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of such courts and you will not object to such jurisdiction and venue on the grounds of lack of personal jurisdiction, inconvenient forum or otherwise. EACH PARTY IRREVOCABLY WAIVES ANY AND ALL RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY LEGAL PROCEEDING ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS OF USE. ASM reserves all rights and remedies available to it, in law or equity, with respect to any matter relating to these Terms of Use. You irrevocably agree that any and all disputes, claims and causes of action you may have in connection with or related to the ASM Web Sites will be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action. If, for any reason, any claim or dispute is subject to litigation rather than arbitration, you agree that such litigation may be conducted only in local or federal courts in Washington, District of Columbia, U.S.A. and you agree to submit to the jurisdiction of such courts.

16. If any provision of these Terms of Use or the ASM Privacy Policy are found to be unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from the remainder, which will remain in force; the parties agree that the court should endeavor to give the fullest possible effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.

17. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action, arising out of or related to, use of the ASM Web Sites or these Terms of Use must be filed within one (1) year after such claim arose or be forever barred.